Chancellor Joel Klein, visiting the Hudson Guild Children's Center, announced today that "thousands" of seats remain open in the city's universal pre-K program. Worth asking: How did the seat surplus occur at all, given the high demand for pre-K seats? And, given this surplus, how did the seats...
by Jennifer Freeman Can you call an activity “planning” if it consists of playing catch-up with old problems (years of chronic underfunding of school construction) while ignoring new ones (massive residential high-rise construction)? The inspiring crowd of parents and elected officials who...
The long-anticipated death of print has two new late-September heralds: First, the imminent demise of the New York Sun, which may fold this week unless a deep-pocketed sponsor, un-scarred by market woes, leaps into the newsprint fray. And the ongoing contraction of education reportingat the Times...
If you've spent all week wondering whether paying some teachers not to teach improves the over-all quality of instruction, or if you have been too engrossed in the Times Magazine’s annual College Issue to get to the papers, here's a recap of NYC school news. First, some some shake-ups in the...
Both the Sunand the Times today take up the thorny issue of 'excessed' teachers, after a UFTpress conference and volleys of emails and other communication between DOEand UFT leadership. Of the city's 15,000 teachers, about 1,000 have been 'excessed' from their schools -- because the school closed...
The economy's dominating the national news, and on the civic landscape, the proposed across-the-board 2.5% budget cuts requested by Mayor Bloomberg could translate to $185 million in cuts to the city's schools -- a third more than the $120 million in proposed cuts that was so bitterly opposed...
Three 6-12 schools already exist in Brooklyn's District 15 -- The Secondary Schools for Law, Journalism and Social Research, in the old John Jay High School building -- to mixed reviews, but the DOE has approved a new secondary charter, the Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, to open in September...
Should teachers at schools destined for closure double down and teach with greater vigor -- or slouch into oblivion? An article by Jennifer Medinain today's Times highlights the apparently contradictory (and surely embarrassing) fact that the DOE gave significant cash awards, linked to the school...
The NY Sun yesterday cited DOE enrollment numbers, concluding that "P.S. 87 on 78th Street would be at 50% capacity if only neighborhood students zoned for the school attended." The way that this number turns out to be false reveals a lot about the DOE's preliminary rezoning proposal. If you...
Saturday was one of those perfect Indian summer days. The beach beckoned; the greenmarkets overflowed with pungent basil and ripe produce; tourists marched in droves over the Brooklyn Bridge to see the waterfalls. I pulled my reluctant 12-year-old out of bed and headed to the jam-packed citywide...
West Side parents famously covet seats at strong local elementary schools; the DOE, well aware of the constant demand, is "floating" two rezoning proposals to address the District 3 crunch, according to Elizabeth Green in today's New York Sun. (Insideschools' blogger Jennifer Freeman is quoted in...
A feature in today's Timesshowcases rising efforts by many colleges and universities to diminish the influence of the SAT exam in college admissions; scholars and journalists have repeatedly documented real advantages to more-advantaged students, and this article mentions the generally slim gains...
Wall Street may be flailing but this week, many city teachers and principals are flush, thanks to bonuses based on the school progress reports.There also still seems to be enough cash left forVillage residents to open a new private high school and parents to apply in record-breaking numbers for...
In a disturbing, cross-town coincidence, NY1 reports that students at three high schools have been exposed to pepper spray this week, with more than two dozen kids evaluated for complaints ranging from chest pains to burning eyes, and two 14-year-olds, in separate incidents, detained by the...
The first step in our family's New York City public high school search did not involve delving into our growing piles of books, papers and test prep brochures, gathered at various information sessions. We watched the movie “Fame,’’ that 1980 classic set at the old New York City High School for...
Chancellor Klein and UFT president Randi Weingarten announced this morning that more than 6,000 elementary and middle schools educators will receive cash bonuses in reward for their schools’ performances on the progress reports. Faculty at 89 schools, slightly more than half of the 160 elementary...
The DOEhosts its all-city high school fair this weekend at Brooklyn Tech; see this article in the current Insideschools alert for a nuts-and-bolts guide to beginning the high school admissions process. Because it's wholly unlikely you'll want to look at all 400+ city high schools (one can only...
Classes in more than half of the city's schools are growing larger, according to a new report by the New York State Department of Education, despite Contracts for Excellence funding directed at decreasing classes and lowering the student/teacher ratio. While class sizes dropped in many schools...
Special education students are facing even more significant problems than the busing issues that continue to keep them spending almost as many hours en-routeto school as in the classroom. Despite such snafus, the Times editorial board endorsed the reinstatement of mayoral control, only with...
The same sixth-graders who were in their first week of middle school, seven years ago today, are in their first month of college. 2001's first-graders are now eighth-graders; the children who fill their small, primary-school seats weren't even born on that crystalline September morning. One...
With the news that the Obama campaign aims to double federal dollars for charter schools in concert with the McCain camp's established charter-school support (along with its concerted push for public-school vouchers), more attention is being focused on charters as alternatives to failing...
Yes, the new-school dust is still swirling, but for families of eighth-graders, the high school admissions process looms large on the horizon. Much of what you've heard is true: The process is daunting and potentially confusing; it can be hard to know which of the city's 400+ high schools might...
To herald the new school year, the newslast week was filled withfirst day of school stories. Articles spotlit new schools, new charter schools, andcharter school networks new to New York; others described overcrowded schools, schoolenrollmentissues and schoolscheduling issues;yet more explored...
It may be less than two miles from principal Josh Klaris' former elementary school, PS 183, to the brand-new DREAM Charter School—opening today with a visit by Chancellor Joel Klein—but the challenges of opening a charter school in East Harlem differ greatly from managing a thriving, Upper East...
Who doesn't want more arts education for our city's students? Parents as Arts Partners, via the Center for Arts Education, brings the creative process to thousands of kids and families every year. It's a great way to get involved in the life of your child's school and to make a real contribution...
Talk of testing dominated the news this week. Whether it was the mayor’s new plan to test kindergarten, first, and second grade students or the results of the SAT exam, the testing debates continued to take up ink. New York students' comparatively poor performance on the SAT prompted both the...
AFT and UFTpresident Randi Weingarten issued a strong denunciation of yesterday's K-2 standardized testing proposal, saying (in part) "There's a right place and a wrong place for testing, and this is the wrong place. Testing children at such an early age is bad practice and developmentally...
Progress-report guru James Liebman made front-page news today with an email proposal to bring standardized testing to the kindergarten classroom. These test scores, the DOE says, wouldn't affect student progress or promotion. Vocal opponents decry the plan (and the late-summer timing), but it...
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum's office today released survey results on their efforts to reach Family Advocates during the week of August 12 to 15. Guess what? They very nearly struck out, with only about a third of calls answered by actual people, 12 of 32 districts unreachable despite multiple...
Chancellor Joel Klein has announced a new pilot program in 10 high-need grade schools to improve reading education, based on E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge curriculum (for reference, see his popular 1988 manifesto, Cultural Literacy, and the series of parent-focused education books that...
As parents and students begin gearing up for the new school year, the news this week was dominated by the standard – yet colossal and complicated – contemporary education debates, including charter schools, standardized testing, and incentives. Mayor Bloomberg kicked off the week by announcing...
The DOEhas updated its pre-K registers and says there are half- and full-day spots open at some city schools. Have a look at their updated directory (PDF) to see what's available; registration begins next Thursday, the 28th, and wraps up on the first day of school. Some parents have written in...
Looks like Washington, D.C. schools head Michelle Rhee is borrowing another page from her mentor's playbook; see this storyfor her proposal, modeled on Klein's prototype, that students at 14 District middle schools earn up to $200 a month for steady attendance. That's some kind of walking-around...
The good news, from the DOE and the State, is that crime in the city's schools is on the wane: Of 25 city schools described as persistently dangerous by the State last year, 15 were removed from the list in light of improved safety and lower crime. The downside is that 11 city schools remain on...
Families who applied for pre-K seats in the second application round should have news by the end of this week; letters went out by mail yesterday afternoon, according to an email from the DOE's Andy Jacob.
In a signature transposition of business practice into the education environment, the Klein administration at the DOE has installed a range of mechanisms to pay people -- teachers, principals, and students, at selected schools -- for performance. Today's Times story challenges the merits of a $2...
Citing competition as the key to success, Mayor Bloomberg says that pressure from charter schools force traditional public schools to improve. But advocates like Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters beg to differ: the small classes that are the charter norm are all too elusive in mainstream...
It's safe bet that most readers saw yesterday's New York Times magazine cover story, detailing the vast educational experiment underway in New Orleans. In a similar vein, today at noon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will announce the opening of 18 new charter schools, which are subject to stringent...
A number of parents have been wondering whether others in the city have heard any placement news on their child's round II pre-K application. DOE said they'd let folks know by now (mid-August), but many don't have news yet. To connect with other pre-K parents, visit our forums, click on the...
We've heard reports from parents across the city that some g+t programs in local schools have been shuttered for the coming school year -- for a range of reasons, including low enrollment and g+t funding cutbacks by DOE planners. We've asked the DOE repeatedly for a current list of g+t district...
In the end of June, we started gathering questions for the DOE on a wide range of subjects. It took a month to set up the interview, but on July 31st, we spoke with DOE administrators about gifted and talented admissions, among other issues. A short blog postgave highlights (and generated dozens...
Interesting to see how the grad-rate report is presented by local media. Facts are facts, but how they're spun reflects how they're seen. For starters, the Post notes the upward trend-- but sets the NYC data against even greater apparent progress in long-troubled cities like Chicago and Los...
The State and the City finally released the 2007 high school graduation rate today, and the news is both heartening and discouraging, on more than a few counts. First, the good news: The overall graduation rate continues to nudge upward from the swamp where it had long languished. For the city...
Among the 1.1 million schoolchildren in NYC public schools, 181,000 students with special needs often face unique, daunting, and systemic challenges, and parents of special-needs kids often feel excluded from the mainstream education debate. To that end, a new coalition (spearheaded by Advocates...
On Tuesday August 12 from 5pm to 8pm, State Senator Martin Connor and members of the State Democratic School Governance Task Force will convene at Brooklyn's Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, to hear parents speak about mayoral control and the state of the city schools. The Task Force wants to...
Families in downtown Brooklyn have long lobbied DOE for new middle schools, especially as local elementaries revive (pace, PS 8's new expansionplans) and the waterfront neighborhoods host new (and massive) housing developments. Now, the Daily News reports there's more support for a new middle...
District 2, which encompasses some of Manhattan's prime development turf, has chronically overcrowded elementary schools. Middle schools, often housed on the top floors of primary schools, add to the population pressure. In a long letter to the Community Education Council, the DOE proposed...
Last week, Insideschools spoke with Anna Commitante (head of DOE G+T), Elizabeth Sciabarra (OSEPO head) and Marty Barr (OSEPO's elementary-schools head) about gifted and talented programs, enrollment, and admissions policies. Here are highlights from our conversation; a longer article in the next...
Remember about a month ago, when we asked you for questions you'd like answered by the DOE? Well, the wheels grind slowly, even in midsummer, but grind they do: This afternoon, we're speaking with Anna Commitante (head ofGifted +Talentedfor the Department) and OSEPO headElizabeth Sciabarra....
by Liz Willen There's no way of getting around the constant search for schools in New York City -- from getting into pre-kindergarten (far more complicated than necessary this year) to finding a good neighborhood school to choosing a district with enough reasonable middle school choices to...
The end of July may seem like low season for high school, but parents of rising 8th graders with questions about small and charter high schools have a chance to learn more tomorrow evening, in a DOE workshop at Stuyvesant High School. Nearly two dozen new small high schools will open in...
